bobasaurus Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I just setup my home forge 2 weeks ago and I'm having a blast. I've been a hobby woodworker for a long time, so I mostly want to make useful tools (chisels, spokeshaves, drawknives, axes, adzes, hammers, and the like). Bought a chile forge, as I didn't want to mess with building a homemade pile of explosive propane near my highly-flammable wood shop. I only have a cheap vulcan 50 lb anvil for now, but I fixed it to a very heavy welded stand for extra mass (probably over 200 lbs total). I've attached a few photos. First is my driveway forging setup (I live in a pretty blue collar area, thankfully... neighbors don't seem to mind). Then pictures of what I forged: a hardy hot cutter, "perfect handle" screwdriver (in progress), and a kitchen cleaver that kind of looks like a pirate sword. I've been using mostly O1 tool steel from Enco for stock, and heat treating it in the forge and my kitchen oven. I have a thermocouple for the forge that I use for heat treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Welcome aboard Bob, glad to have you. Pretty nice stand and easy to fit a larger anvil on. Thinking ahead is a GOOD thing. You weld I take it. Vulcan might not be top shelf but it's far from the bottom either, it's a good working mid level anvil. I've used worse to good effect. I'm not fond of how you have the fuel plumbed to the burners. When you shut it off all the heat i the forge will chimney up through the burners unless you close the air intakes and even then they WILL get hot. Getting hot isn't recommended treatment of rubber hoses. My final fuel lines are 1/4" copper tubing from a manifold where I can control which burners are running with 1/4 turn ball valves. Another thing I don't care for is how your hose splitter and hoses stick out from the side of the cart. It's not a good thing to trip over hoses tied into a call it 2,400f device AND a compressed propane tank. You just never know when a big dog will chase a stray cat through or maybe a kid will chase a ball right through the trip hazard. It's Murphy's Law just waiting to express itself. A quick resolution for me would be to move the tank to the far side of the cart so the hoses barely clear the edge of the cart. It's not perfect but it eliminates the trip hazard significantly. Yeah I know it puts the tank directly under the forge but the cart is a nice shiny heat shield and a small piece of cement backer board either under the forge or glued to the bottom of the cart or heck half an inch of sand and it's no problem at all. I wish I had a cart that nice for my portable propane forge. The hot cut looks good only has a ways to go to become a "Hardy". If you curve the edge like an axe blade you'll find they cut more easily and it's a LOT easier to cut a straight line. The cleaver looks pretty good to this, "not a bladesmith" guy. How well is it fitted or sealed where the tang enters the handle? Can food get trapped and grow some of the original high potency laxative? All in all a pretty good start you made yourself there Bob, keep it up. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobasaurus Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Hi Frosty, I don't actually weld yet... I just picked up this great stand at auction. A man had built these hefty stands for all his tools in the shop. It came with the spindle sander I purchased. The fuel plumbing came that way on the chile habanero forge. I did think it was odd they used rubber hoses instead of copper or steel clad. Might replace those someday... until then, maybe I can tie them somehow away from the forge. That's a good idea moving the tank, I was thinking about doing that when I built it but didn't have the parts handy. I'll think about how to plumb that. Thankfully the insulation on the forge bottom is pretty good. I haven't felt any heat on the aluminum plate when turning off the propane after shutting off the forge. I also need to get a chain to secure the tank. It's tied down with cord now, but that's not ideal. The hidden tang in that knife fits the groove in the wood pretty well, and I absolutely filled it overflowing with CA glue when securing it, wiping off the excess. It should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Propane hoses tend to be pretty fire resistant but I have a problem putting something made of rubber directly over a forge. A lot of people do and you don't hear about hoses burning through very often so maybe I'm just being over cautious. Then again I don't care if I see flame blowing out of one of my unused burners if one of the partition bricks shifts. 40lb. propane tanks are pretty safe from fall damage. The risk involved with a fallen tank is having liquid propane shooting into the forge, it makes BIG yellow flames. It's well worth securing the things. Do you have another shelf for that cart? If so you could take the wire shelf off the frame and slip the frame down to say 2/3 tank high and lock it i place. Then a couple bungee cords would secure it pretty well. Hmmm, maybe slip a short length of rigid tubing through the tank handle and hose clamp the ends to the cart posts. Ah, there are so many easy ways to secure the tank I'm just running my fingers going on about them. You're going to fit right in here. Do you like puns? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobasaurus Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 Thanks for the advice, Frosty. No extra shelf, so I bought some bungee cords today at the auto store. They do a much better job than the string. I forged a drift today for making small hammer eyes. I let it cool in the forge to semi-anneal it for grinding tomorrow. Here is a picture (it's oval shaped, though you can't really tell from the pic): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Depending on how long it takes your forge to cool it's between a normalizing to full anneal heat treatment. That's for low alloy steels, high alloys can require some pretty darned sophisticated equipment to anneal. I anneal in my forge all the time. If you preheat some relatively heavy closures for the doors it'll work much better. I typically use light fire brick for the opening baffles but heat hard brick for an annealing cycle. Regardless of the finer points and how tos of it your "semi-anneal' will work a treat. With the openings open it'll be better than normalizing, a full anneal would be overdoing it. Having fun yet? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BD1 Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Nice setup. I ordered a Chile forge two weeks ago and have a Vulcan anvil too. Just beginning to do Blacksmith type work. As for your tank, I have my 100 pounder strapped to a two wheel hand truck. I did read that some guys use a tig hose welding cover to protect their propane hoses. https://d2pbmlo3fglvvr.cloudfront.net/product/large/Z3JM7-fo5oy.JPG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Good tip about using the tig hose cover. Thinking about it a little it not only helps shield hoses from heat it makes them much larger so they're easier to see. Every little bit helps. Thanks. Don't be bashful, show us pics of your set up, we LOVE pics you know. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashelle Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Just a thought. I like that there is a fire extinguisher nearby. Though it might be a good idea to have it off to the side where it is readily available rather then underneath the potential fire source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Good catch Rashelle! I saw and thought of the fire extinguisher's position but got lost in my rambling and forgot to mention it. Having to reach through a fire for the extinguisher is NOT recommended procedure! In a building extinguishers are best placed by the exit. In most cases unless a person has training with extinguishers they can put themselves in more danger than the good they do warrants. Having to head for the exit is often the best thing. Sorry, got off on a ramble again. Sitting your extinguisher on a bench or stool a couple yards away is perfect It gets you away from a fire and at a good distance for the extinguisher to be effective. It's also available if YOU are on fire, a passer by can use it on you. Remember, aim at the base of the fire and work up as it goes out. If it doesn't go out empty the extinguisher and leave the area. 911 is your friend. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobasaurus Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 I have been moving the extinguisher to sit nearby, I usually just store it under the cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 On 5/7/2016 at 10:19 AM, bobasaurus said: I have been moving the extinguisher to sit nearby, I usually just store it under the cart. And hopefully never need it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfall Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 That's looking like some nice work Bob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobasaurus Posted May 12, 2017 Author Share Posted May 12, 2017 1 hour ago, Hammerfall said: That's looking like some nice work Bob. Thanks. I'm getting a little better now, but not much. My arms are still surprisingly weak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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